Classic heartbreak songs meet Stephen King in these creepy covers

Designer Butcher Billy explores the darker side of love in these concept book covers inspired by a master of horror.

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Heartbreak is a wonderful thing. You get a free pass to eat loads of chocolate, you find out if your tear ducts are still working, and nobody will blame you if you play melancholy music all the time. For graphic designer and illustrator Butcher Billy, the soundtrack to heartbreak also provides artistic inspiration.

In his latest project, Butcher Billy has taken classic heartbreak songs and looks at the dark side of their lyrics. The result is a series of covers and vintage posters that reimagine tragic love songs as novels written by one of the masters of horror: Stephen King.

It's a fitting match really, seeing as heartache anthems are filled with images of staying alive, being torn apart and cannibalism. And Butcher Billy has realised his idea brilliantly with a series of images that channel a pulpy horror novel vibe, complete with a blocky serifed typeface, trashy tag lines, and an oppressively dark colour scheme. There's even a set of cardboard VHS sleeves to round off the collection.

Explore a selection of the covers below, and be sure to head over to his Behance page to see the whole lot.